John Krasinski plays with Ben Gibbard in DC

Today we have a guest blogger, Stephanie Flax (aka Flaxy), who along with Carlyn made me cry last night. Why? Because I got this text message from them:

From: Flaxy
Sent: 5/11/07, 12:03 AM
----------------------
OMG JIM FROM THE OFFICE IS AT THE 930 CLUB 30 FEET FROM ME - HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!


Carlyn also left a voice message: "I had to call because John Krasinski is here with Ben Gibbard."

So it seems I missed my date with destiny, Death Cab, DC, and John Krasinski. Here's a post from Flaxy the super-fan:


John Krasinski, photo by Carlyn Madden via camera phone

I graduated from college a year ago, but based upon my current sleep schedule you'd think I was enjoying retirement. Therefore, it took quite a bit of energy for me to get up and go to the 9:30 club last night for the SECOND of two Johnathan Rice/Ben Gibbard shows. Despite the fact that I will promptly be crashing at my desk somewhere around 2:30 pm, my overall assessment is…

TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Thanks to some high school connections of mine, Carlyn and I were perfectly situated on the right side of the stage, 30 feet from the performers, and directly behind some drunk, obnoxious frat boys.

So here's how the night ran down…Johnathan Rice, an extremely pleasant performer, came out and played for about 30 minutes. He made sure to comment on, and shush (!) the frat boys, thus adding to his appeal.

Then Ben Gibbard appeared in all of his hipster glory. Carlyn comments that he resembles Dwight Shroot, which is ironic considering the episode of The Office entitled "Beach Day" had aired no more than a couple of hours prior to the show. Ben is an extremely talented fellow, and a definite crowd pleaser. For the 18-year old couple making out in front of us, he made sure to play "Soul Meets Body."

The 9:30 Club website said that we would also be witnessing an appearance from David Bazan (a la Pedro the Lion). You can then imagine our shock and (extremely pleasant) surprise when instead John Krasinski, aka Jim from The Office, appeared to joke around on stage with Ben!!!

While Carlyn and I were actively trying not to faint out of pure love for this man, he manages to sneak off to the upper-balcony area. This made it extremely difficult to focus on the remainder of the amazing Ben performance because we were too busy watching John's every move. I was trying to decipher his beer of choice (Stella Artois, Carlyn claims). However, Ben definitely wowed us, and scored major "coolness points" when he too commented on the rowdy audience.

The night was topped off when Carlyn approached Johnathan Rice, who was perched on a security stool right next to her. He then came over and chatted with the both of us and kind of awkwardly danced behind Carlyn.

All in all, I give last night a major gold star!

Well written, Flaxy. You can guest blog anytime. You and Carlyn both.

I miss DC,
CK